Leadershipistheabilityofacompany'smanagementtomakesounddecisionsandinspireotherstoperformwell.Effectiveleadersareabletosetandachievechallenginggoals,totakeswiftanddecisiveactionevenindifficultsituations,tooutperformtheircompetition,totakecalculatedrisksandtopersevereinthefaceoffailure.Strongcommunicationskills,self-confidence,theabilitytomanageothersandawillingnesstoembracechangealsocharacterizegoodleaders.

　　Leadershipistheprocessthroughwhichanindividualtriestoinfluenceanotherindividualoragroupofindividualstoaccomplishagoal.Leadershipisvaluedinourculture,especiallywhenithelpstoachievegoalsthatarebeneficialtothepopulation,suchastheenactmentofeffectivepreventive-healthpolicies.Anindividualwithleadershipqualitiescanalsoimproveanorganizationandtheindividualsinit,whetheritbeateacherwhoworkstogetbetterteachingmaterialsandafter-schoolprogramsoranemployeewhodevelopsnewideasandproductsandinfluencesotherstoinvestinthem.

　　Leadershipcanbeexhibitedinavarietyofwaysandcircumstances.Mothersandfathersshowleadershipinraisingtheirchildrenwithgoodvaluesandencouragingthemtodeveloptotheirpotential.Teachersshowitininspiringstudentstolearnandtodeveloptheirintellectualcapacity.Healthcareworkerscanbeleadersanddevelopservicesthatmeettheneedsofthecommunitiestheyserve,orworkincollaborationwithotherorganizationstocreatecost-effective,prevention-orientedprogramsandservices.

　　Manystudieshavebeendoneandmanybooksandarticleshavebeenpublishedonthissubject.Throughthisworkaconsistentsetofleadershipattributeshasemerged.Aneffectiveleaderdoesmost,ifnotall,ofthefollowing:

　　•ChallengetheProcess—searchoutchallengingopportunities,takerisks,andlearnfrommistakes.

　　•Inspireotherstocometogetherandagreeonafuturedirectionorgoal—createasharedvisionbythinkingaboutthefuture,havingastrongpositivevision,andencouragingotherstoparticipate.

　　•Helpotherstoact—helpotherstoworktogether,tocooperateandcollaboratebydevelopingsharedgoalsandbuildingtrust,andhelptomakeothersstrongerbyencouragingthemtodeveloptheirskillsandtalents.

　　•Setanexample—behaveinwaysthatareconsistentwithprofessedvaluesandhelpotherstoachievesmallgainsthatkeepthemmotivated,especiallywhenagoalwillnotbeachievedquickly.

　　•Encourageothers—recognizeeachindividual'scontributionstothesuccessofaproject.

　　Anotherwayofdefiningleadershipistoacknowledgewhatpeoplevalueinindividualsthatarerecognizedasleaders.Mostpeoplecanthinkofindividualstheyconsidertobeleaders.Researchconductedinthe1980sbyJamesKouzesandBarryPosnerfoundthatamajorityofpeopleadmire,andwillinglyfollow,peoplewhoarehonest,forward-looking,inspiring,andcompetent

　　Anindividualwhowouldliketodevelopleadershipskillscanprofitfromtheknowledgethatleadershipisnotjustasetofexceptionalskillsandattributespossessedbyonlyafewveryspecialpeople.Rather,leadershipisaprocessandasetofskillsthatcanbelearned.